A atenção primária à saúde constitui hoje área prioritária nas políticas de saúde em diversas partes do mundo, constituindo, no Brasil, elemento estratégico para a organização dos sistemas de atenção. A complexidade e especificidade das demandas e características do cuidado em saúde na atenção primária exige, contudo, renovados esforços conceituais e práticos no sentido da construção de processos comunicacionais e interativos entre médicos e pacientes que caminhem para além da anamnese tradicional, pautada por uma racionalidade estritamente biomédica Objetivo: identificar e compreender fundamentos e contribuições de quatro influentes correntes teóricas que, a partir da década de 90, vêm problematizando as interações e a comunicação entre médicos e pacientes na atenção primária à saúde: Medicina Centrada no Paciente, Medicina Baseada em Narrativa, Abordagem Integral (Comprehensive Care) e Integralidade da Atenção à Saúde. Metodologia: Levantamento e estudo interpretativo, apoiado na filosofia hermenêutica de Hans-Georg Gadamer e Paul Ricoeur, de produção bibliográfica indexada nas bases MEDLINE e LILACS de 1990 a 1999. Resultados: A Medicina Centrada no Paciente orienta-se, fundamentalmente, para a identificação de domínios específicos que devem ser integrados à anamnese médica tradicional para ampliar seu escopo prático, utiliza metodologia de pesquisa quantitativa como modo predominante de fundamentação de suas proposições e propõe inúmeras metodologias ativas de ensino-aprendizado. A Medicina Baseada em Narrativa detém-se no como construir narrativas ao longo do diálogo entre médicos e pacientes, utiliza a metodologia qualitativa como principal recurso de pesquisa e fundamentação de suas proposições e desenvolve diversas estratégias de ensino-aprendizado com utilização de textos literários e narrativos. A Abordagem Integral (Comprehensive Care) utiliza como referencial teórico o modelo biopsicossocial de abordagem do processo saúde-doença e busca desenvolver propostas de assistência integral à saúde de grupos populacionais prioritários do ponto de vista médico-sanitário. A integralidade privilegia a transformação da organização dos serviços e dos processos de trabalho em saúde como primeira instância para a qualificação dos processos comunicacionais entre médicos e pacientes. Não foram identificados nas tradições da Abordagem Integral (Comprehensive Care) e da Integralidade a discussão de estratégias de ensino-aprendizado de abordagens comunicacionais, o que é bastante enfatizado nas outras duas. Conclusão: As quatro tradições estudadas apresentam inovações e pressupostos teórico-práticos que se complementam. Mostra-se imprescindível estabelecer uma fusão de horizontes entre tais proposições de forma a qualificar os diálogos e processos de comunicação-interação estabelecidos entre médicos e pacientes no nível da atenção primária à saúde / The primary health care is currently a priority area in health policies in different parts of the world, being a strategic element to the care systems organization in Brazil. Nevertheless, the complexity and the specificity of demands and characteristics of healthcare in primary health care require conceptual and practical renewed efforts with respect to the construction of interactive and communicational processes between doctors and patients that go beyond the traditional anamnesis, regulated by a rationality strictly biomedics. Objective: identify and understand fundaments and contributions of four theoretical perspectives of relevance which have been problematizing, since the 90s, the interactions and the communication between doctors and patients in primary health care: Patient-Centered Medicine, Narrative Based Medicine, Comprehensive Care and Integrality in Healthcare. Methodology: Survey and interpretive study based on Hans-Georg Gadamers and Paul Ricoeurs philosophical hermeneutics of indexed bibliography in MEDLINE and LILACS from 1990 to 1999. Results: Patient-Centered Medicine is fundamentally guided towards the identification of specific domains that must be integrated with traditional medical anamnesis in order to broaden its practical scope. It uses quantitative research methodology as a predominant way of laying the foundations of its propositions, recommending various active teaching-learning methodologies. The Narrative Based Medicine withholds on \"how\" to construct narratives throughout the dialogue between doctors and patients. It applies a qualitative methodology as the major resource of research and of fundamenting its propositions, besides developing various teaching-learning strategies using literary and narrative texts. The Comprehensive Care uses the biopsychosocial model of addressing the health-disease process as a theoretical approach and aims at developing proposals for Integrality in Healthcare for population groups who have priority in terms of medical health care. Comprehensiveness privileges the transformation of services organization and of work processes in health as the first instance to the quality of communication processes between doctors and patients. In the traditions of Comprehensive Care and of Integrality in Healthcare, the discussion of teaching-learning strategies of communication approaches, which is quite emphasized in the other two approaches, was not identified. Conclusion: The four theoretical perspectives studied present innovations and theoretical-practical propositions that complement themselves. It is imperative to establish a \"fusion of horizons\" between such propositions for qualifying the dialogue and the communication-interaction processes established between doctors and patients at the primary health care level

Despite advances in medical technologies, interpersonal communication remains the primary tool physicians use to exchange information, make diagnoses, and treat patients (Cameron & Williams, 1997; Groopman, 2007; Ong, de Haes, Hoos, & Lammes, 1995). In the medical encounter effective communication between physician and patient is essential so that beneficial health and wellbeing outcomes are achieved for patients. Taking a discourse analytic approach, this study examined interactions occurring between international medical graduate (IMG) residents, attending physicians, and patients during the treatment advice phase of the supervised medical encounter. The aim of the study was to examine the co-constructed nature of the delivery and receipt of treatment advice and the ways in which physicians and patients managed interpersonal relations through the negotiated activity. The theoretical framework of pragmatic competence was utilized to underpin the study. Physician-patient interactions served as the primary data source. Medical encounter interactions between five different IMG residents and 31 patients were observed and audio-recorded. Observations and a post-medical encounter survey completed by patients served as secondary data sources. The analysis of the data revealed that this medical speech activity embedded within the medical encounter was realized through the use of a variety of discourse strategies and contributions from multiple participants as they attended to the interpersonal and transactional goals associated with the delivery and receipt of treatment advice. Findings provided insights into how multi-party discourse worked to jointly construct and negotiate treatment recommendations. Findings indicated that IMG residents utilized indirect advice giving strategies. Additionally, both IMG residents and patients utilized interrogatives in various ways to engage actively in the treatment decision-making process. Finally, the data revealed how the participants attended to each other's face needs as they worked to enhance, maintain, or challenge face through the dynamic process of negotiating relationships.

The aim of this thesis is to study (1) the impact of physicians' locus of control (LOC) on their communication styles in interviews with cancer patients as well as (1) the impact of physicians' LOC on their acquisition of effective communication skills in a communication skills training program. LOC is a generalised belief regarding the extent to which life outcomes are controlled by an individual's actions (“internal” LOC) or by external forces such as luck, fate or other individuals (“external” LOC). (1) Although is it widely recognised that physicians' characteristics could influence their communication styles and may thus interfere with a patient-centred communication, no empirical evidence is currently available. No studies are available on the impact of physicians' LOC on their communication skills. It was hypothesised that physicians with an “external” LOC have a different communication style than physicians with an “internal” LOC. Eighty-one voluntary physicians with a practice in oncology were recorded performing an actual and a simulated interview with a cancer patient as wall as an actual and a simulated interview with a cancer patient and a relative. Physicians' communication skills were assessed using the Cancer Research Campaign Workshop Evaluation Manual. Physicians' LOC was assessed using the Rotter I-E scale. Communication skills of the upper and lower quartiles of physicians in respect of their scores on this scale were compared using Student's t-test. Results show that physicians with “external” LOC give more appropriate information than physicians with “internal” LOC in simulated interviews with a cancer patient (P=0.011) and less premature information than physicians with “internal” LOC in clinical interviews with a cancer patient (P=0.015). Moreover, in actual interviews with a cancer patient and a relative, physicians with an “external” LOC talked more to the relative (P=0.017) and used more utterances with an assessment function (P=0.010) than physicians with an “internal” LOC. In simulated interviews with a cancer patient and a relative, physicians with an “external” LOC used less utterances giving premature information (P=0.031) and used more utterances with a supportive function such as empathy and reassurance (P=0.029) than physicians with an “internal” LOC. (2) Although it is widely recognised that educational interventions may be more effective for people with an “internal” LOC compared to people with an “external” LOC, no study has yet assessed the influence of physicians' LOC on communication skills learning. This study aims to test the hypothesis that, in a communication skills training program, physicians with an “internal” LOC would demonstrate communication skills acquisition to a greater degree than those with an “external” LOC. A non-randomised longitudinal intervention study was conducted between January 1999 and April 2001. Sixty-seven volunteer physicians from private and institutional practice in Belgium participated to a learner-centred, skills-focused, practice-oriented communication skills training program. Communication skills changes were assessed in 2 standardised simulated interviews before and after training (one two-person and one three-person interview). Communication skills were assessed using the Cancer Research Campaign Workshop Evaluation Manual. Physicians' LOC was assessed using the Rotter I-E scale. Communication skills changes of the upper and lower third of physicians in respect of their scores on this scale were compared using group by time repeated measures of variance. In the two-person and three-person interviews, the increase in open directive questions was more important among physicians with an “internal” LOC compared to physicians with an “external” LOC (P=0.066 and P=0.004 respectively). In the three-person interview, the increase in directive questions (P=0.001), in assessing functions (P=0.002) and in the use of moderate feelings stated explicitly (P=0.011) was more important among physicians with an “internal” LOC compared to physicians with an “external” LOC. Conclusion. These results provide evidence that physicians' LOC can influence their communication styles as well as the efficacy of a communication skills training program. Physicians' awareness of first results constitutes a step towards a tailoring of their communication skills to every patient's and relative's concerns and needs and thus towards a patient-centred communication. The second results support the idea that a psychological characteristic such as "internal" LOC may facilitate communication skills acquisition through physicians' belief that communication with patients may be controlled by physicians themselves.

One of the most critical elements in empowering the patient, and ensuring concordance, is communication of the possible benefits and harms of different actions in health care. Risk assessment is a complex task due both to the different interpretations of the concept of risk, and the common lack of hard facts. Hormone, or hormone replacement, therapy (HT) is used by many women in, and after, the menopause. The benefits and possible harms associated with short and long term treatment with HT have been extensively discussed the last decade and the use of HT has decreased dramatically internationally the last few years. The aims of this thesis were to study the interaction between patient and physician when discussing risks and benefits of different treatment alternatives, and to suggest strategies to improve risk communication in clinical practice. The studies have focused on how risks and benefits with HT were communicated between women and physicians during firsttime consultations in 1999- 2000 on this subject (20 women, 5 gynaecologists), and through questionnaires how attitudes towards HT have changed between 1999 (n=1,760) and 2003 (n=1,733) among women entering the menopause (53-54 years). Through a qualitative analysis of the risk communication in the consultations a system was constructed to classify how risk is communicated in relation to benefits. This was used to assess and present differences in risk communication in the consultations. Different rhetorical strategies by the physicians were identified and the dominating tendency was a move from the woman’s current problems to the long-term effects of HT. The questionnaires showed a marked difference in attitudes towards HT between the years. In 2003 women perceived HT to be associated with higher risk and less benefits than in 1999. This correlated to a drastic reduction in the use of HT over the same period. Media was the most frequent source of information about HT during the last twelve months before the questionnaire in 2003. Possible explanations for the different attitudes towards HT between women entering the menopause and gynaecologist; how this difference might have influenced the results; and how they may have implications for future communication strategies are discussed. This thesis illustrates the importance of a deeper understanding in health care of the concept of risk in order to achieve an adequate communication of risk. This is important both in consultations and in campaigns to educate and inform the public. / Reprinted figure 1 on page 32 with permission from Science Ref # 05-17260-Revised. Copyright 2006 AAAS.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 2007. / Title from PDF of title page. Document formatted into pages; contains 180 pages. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Diss. Linköping : Univ., 2006.

Lic.-avh. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2007. / Härtill 2 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Göteborg : Göteborgs universitet, 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 1996. / "May 1996." Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (l. 61-73). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1990. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record.